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Maker's Mark solves supply crisis with weaker whiskey

In response to rapidly increasing demand for bourbon, Maker's Mark has announced it is reducing the amount of alcohol in the spirit to keep pace with consumer demand.

In an email to its best customers, representatives of the brand said the entire bourbon category is "exploding" and demand for Maker's Mark is growing even faster. Some customers have even reported empty shelves in their local stores, it said.

After looking at "all possible solutions," the total alcohol by volume of Maker's Mark is being reduced by 3 per cent. Representatives said the change will allow it to maintain the same taste while making sure there's "enough Maker's Mark to go around." It's working to expand its distillery and production capacity, too.

In Australia last year the makers of Victoria Bitter took the opposite approach, raising the beer's strength and reaping the rewards with a surge in VB sales.

Maker's Mark, made by Deerfield, Illinois-based Beam Inc, said it's done extensive testing to ensure the same taste. It says bourbon drinkers couldn't tell the difference. It also underscored the fact that nothing else in the production process has changed.

"In other words, we've made sure we didn't screw up your whisky," the note said.

Rob Samuels, chief operating officer and grandson of Maker's Mark founder Bill Samuels, said this is a permanent decision that won't be reversed when demand for bourbon slows down. Mr Samuels said that bourbon has gone from the slowest-growing spirits category to the fastest in the past 18 months, driven by growth overseas and demand from younger drinkers. An average bottle of Maker's Mark takes 6½ years to produce from start to finish, and since the company doesn't buy or trade whiskey, it's been impossible to keep up.

The first bottle of Maker's Mark, with its signature red wax closure, was produced in 1958.

Beam is the country's second-largest spirits company by volume. It also makes Jim Beam, Sauza tequila and Pinnacle vodka. It's still dwarfed by industry-leading Diageo, the London-based maker of Smirnoff, Tanqueray, Captain Morgan and Johnnie Walker.

It's a tough time to take a risk with one of its oldest and most popular brands. Beam has promised that 25 per cent of sales will come from new products, a difficult goal to attain but a critical one for investor confidence. The move met some backlash on social media sites, where some said they would boycott the bourbon if the company went ahead with its plans.

Many also complained that they'd rather see an increase in its price than a decrease in the alcohol. But observers say that by raising the price, Beam would have hurt itself by positioning Maker's Mark to compete against its own higher-end brands like Basil Hayden's.